Advantest Corp., one of the world's largest makers of semiconductor testers, said Friday its group net profit for the first half of its business year will probably be more than six-fold above its original forecast.

Thanks to the rapid recovery in investments in semiconductor plants by consumer electronics makers, the firm said it now expects to post a net profit of 2 billion yen for the six months ending Sept. 30.

The figure is up from a net profit of 300 million yen featured in the initial forecast in April.

The company logged a 3.77 billion yen group net loss during the same period a year earlier.